There are 2 owner-reported body & structure complaints for the 2021 Mazda Mazda3in NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
A bolt head underneath the car snapped for the steering mechanism. The problem was indicated by a clanking noise I heard for many 1000s of miles. It's been as long as I remember, but I had no idea what it really meant. It's 2.7 years old with 30,653 miles right now. There were no warnings. The wheel could have come off at any moment I was driving it. The bolt was likely over-torqued or had a manufacturing defect causing it to snap. I have pictures for when the car was propped up at a technician. One side is completely non rusted. The other side is showing rust ONLY from where the bolt was covering, so rust is an unlikely cause.
Car emits a very audible squeak when shifting right above 30mph and 40mph, car surges at lower and constant speeds, tach will slowly drop when applying throttle, surge slightly, then function as normal again
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
Data synced from NHTSA on Apr 26, 2026